Chinese stocks went gangbusters in their last hour of trading

Following the weakness on Monday and Tuesday, and after languishing for most of the day in quiet trade, stocks in Shanghai on Wednesday staged another late rally in trade to finish up 4.90% and record their biggest gain since late August.

Volumes and trade were light for most of the day until the last hour of trade, when the buying ignited and the market roared 147 points to close at 3,152.

Every sector of the Shanghai Composite was higher, and Reuters reports that more than 1,000 stocks closed limit up at 10% on the day. Stocks in the CSI300 index were also higher, rising 4.98%, while shares in Hong Kong posted a more subdued 2.69% gain.

It’s not clear what drove the surge in the indexes, but late rallies have become common with China’s so-called national team of financial institutions corralling their resources to support stock prices.

The South China Morning Post reported that authorities were considering easing restrictions on margin lending that were introduced when the market started crashing. If it goes ahead, it will inject significant extra liquidity into the market.